Behind Blue Eyes
by vampslayertiff
Summary: Investigating an attempted break-in at his ex-wife's house, Danny Williams unravels the secrets of his ex-wife's new assistant, who he suspects might be involved. Mostly Danno POV  Pairings: DannyxOC/StevexKono
1. Chapter 1

_Authors Notes: So, this is my first H50 fanfic. I do not own the show or the characters, unless they are the original ones I added. I also borrowed the title for this fic from the Who song 'Behind Blue Eyes'. This story is going to be Danno-centric, rated M for naughtiness down the road. Just FYI. However, the others will be featured in it as well. Just not as prominently as Danno. Warnings for a little bit of Rachel bashing. If you are a fan of Rachel, don't read it. Simple as that. Also, I hope I do everyone justice. I've only been watching this show since December/January, so I don't know if I have all the characters perfected or not. You lovely people will have to be the judge of that. Comments are always love, as long as you aren't flaming me. That's not nice and I'll have to get Danno to tell Steve to find his grenades and bring them to you and I doubt you'll like that. 3_

Chapter 1:

Danny was having a bad day. It felt like no matter what he did, this day was destined to go down in the record book as the worst day in history. That might have been exaggerating things quite a bit, but it felt that way to him. Work had been hell - chasing after a drug dealer who was suspected of human trafficking was not his idea of a good time. But, at the end of the day they had arrested a dangerous man and his job was done. At least for the day. But as Danny was driving home in his silver Camero, his day went from stressful to hell. His cell phone rang; that all too familiar Psycho ring tone filling his ears and he could feel himself cringe. He did not want to deal with Rachel tonight. Hell, if he wanted to be honest, he didn't want to deal with Rachel at all.

He sighed and flipped the cell phone open, adjusting himself and gripping the steer wheel tightly with his left hand as he held the little sliver phone against his lobe with his right hand. "Yes, Rachel?" He spoke, his exhaustion seeping through with his words as he turned down the little driveway that would lead towards his tiny one room apartment. The sound of her voice barely registered in his ears as he listened to her, complaining about him not being able to pick Grace up and having their daughter sitting alone waiting for him. Every time he attempted to speak, she would interrupt him. So, instead he was forced to grip the steering wheel tighter and chew on his bottom lip in frustration. It didn't take long before he had lost the next to nothing control over his emotions and started yelling at her.

And It wasn't long after that that the argument had gone around in circles so many times that Danny was getting dizzy and nauseous. "Rachel, this has been a day from hell and you've succeeded in making it ten times worse. Congratulations. Now, can I please go and put an end to this endless bullshit? Thanks." He hung up his phone and tossed it into the floor in the seat beside him, banging his hands against the steering wheel, muttering curse after curse under his breath. He raised his right hand to his temple, attempting to rub out the migraine that had somewhere developed between fussing at Steve earlier about tackling a man in the middle of a crowded supermarket and his conversation with Rachel.

He let out a rather heavy sigh before pulling out the keys from his car, and reaching for the door handle, hearing his phone ringing from the floor. He cursed again, turning back to reach for the phone. He flipped it open and raised it to his ear, knowing the irritation was seeping through his voice. "Rachel, I don't know what else you want to -" he was cut off by the sound of his daughter's voice ringing in his ears. "Hey, Monkey. What's going on, baby?"  
>She questioned him, wanting to know why he had forgotten to pick her up. Danny sighed, licking his lips for a moment thinking how best to approach the question. "I'm sorry, Grace. I had a case and I know that's a very tired excuse but I just….got busy." He felt like he could quite possibly be the most miserable excuse for a father in that moment. Work had been rather hectic for the last few weeks and he hadn't seen much of Grace. He was eager for the weekend simply because he knew he was going to have three days with her and he needed to relax.<p>

_"It's okay, Daddy. Emily came and got me._"  
>"Who's Emily, Monkey?"<p>

He didn't have any idea who this person was, and it rather infuriated him to know that a stranger was picking his daughter up from school when his ex-wife spent ten minutes on the phone trying to convince him that she had had to go and get her.

"Mommy's assistant. Mommy was in a meeting so Emily came and picked me up. We went and got ice cream. It was fun."  
>"I thought your mother's assistant's name was Rebecca?"<br>"Rebecca left, Daddy. Mommy didn't say why. She just said she left."

Danny couldn't suppress the roll of his eyes as he closed his car door, and continued his way up the drive towards his door, shoving the key to the door in the lock, twisting it to the left, hearing the lock click open as he turned the knob, pushing the door open. He could think of many reasons why Rebecca might have left Rachel. Rachel had a habit of not being able to hold onto her personal assistants simply because of how…demanding she could be. It was also because she worked the women to the bone. Rachel didn't know how to let up, as she had demonstrated quite well minutes before.

"I see. Well, monkey, I promise the next time it's my turn to pick you up, I'll be there. Danno loves you, okay? It's getting late though. You should probably go to bed, sweetheart."  
>"Love you too, Danno. Night."<p>

He heard the line go dead and he sighed, closing the phone as he threw his keys on the coffee table beside his pull out couch and placing the phone back into his pocket. He felt his eyes wondering around the small room that he called his apartment. It was depressing. Every day he went to work telling himself that he stuck around the miserable island simply because he wanted to be near Grace. But, then he would come home at night, drink a few beers, and wonder what the hell he was doing with his life. It wasn't the he regretted moving from Jersey to the island to be with his daughter. Well, in a way, he did. But it was just that he didn't know how or why his life had taken this turn. If someone had told him five years prior that he would be single, living without his wife and daughter, and not longer living in Jersey, he would have laughed and called the person a moron.

He reached his right arm up to scratch an itch on his neck, before proceeding to the refrigerator to find a beer. It was rather pathetic that his evenings had been reduced to sitting alone in an empty apartment with a beer. It was times like these that he wished he could just turn back the hands of time and figure out what had went wrong. Well, he knew what went wrong. Rachel just hadn't been right for him. He couldn't give her what she wanted and it had been doomed from the very beginning. Rachel had came from money. Was it really any surprise that she would have an affair with a man who could line her pockets with cash? Danny couldn't offer her anything but his heart, and that wasn't enough for her.  
>He hated knowing that a part of him still loved Rachel, as nerve-wracking and aggravating the woman could be. And seeing her with Stan was enough to rip his heart out every single time. A smarter man might have left and went back to the states than rather go through that constant agony. But, he put up with the constant struggle every day because of Grace. She was the reason he went on, because without her….he didn't know where he would be. He imagined he would still be in that hotel room back in Jersey drinking himself into a potential coma.<p>

He found himself drifting back to the couch and plopping down upon it, popping the cap off the beer bottle and raising it to his lips. The silence of the apartment was almost deafening. He sat there on the couch, drinking his beer. He was almost finished with the bottle when his phone rang again. However, it wasn't Rachel's number this time, as the ringtone didn't blare in his ears. So, he reached back into his pocket, checking the number. He immediately flipped it open, straightening as he spoke, "Steven, this had better be -" He was cut off by his "boss", who immediately told him that HPD headquarters had received a call from Rachel's house reporting a break in. "I'll be right there." He didn't even wait to hear what else Steve had to say as he closed the phone and grabbed his keys, intent on getting to their house as fast as he could

* * *

><p>It took Danny fifteen minutes to get to his destination. The gated community where Rachel and her husband Stan lived was exploding with police cars. Danny's nerves caused him to grip the steering wheel tightly, trying calm himself from the overwhelming panic forming inside his heart. He parked his car as soon as he could find an open space and closed the door, practically slamming it as he rushed towards the house. Grace saw him before he even noticed her, running towards her father and catching him around the waist. He sighed, holding his daughter, the most precious thing he had in the world, close to his chest. As she pulled away, he crouched down, wiping away a few tears from her face. "Grace, where's your mother?"<p>

"She's over there talking with Emily talking to Chin and Kono."

His eyes moved in the direction of his daughter's finger and made contact with his wife and the woman he now knew as Emily. He found himself staring a little too long at the brunette trying to comfort his ex-wife. The only thing he could make out was her chestnut curls in the darkness, falling down to her shoulders, spreading over them in a thick wave. She turned her head for a moment, and he studied her, baffled by what he saw. She looked familiar to him, but he couldn't place her. Had he seen her before? Perhaps. The woman could have been a friend of Rachel's that took the job as her assistant because she couldn't find anyone else who could withstand her wrath.

"Danno?"  
>His eyes moved back to Grace, shaking his head as he smiled, "I'm glad you're okay, monkey. What happened?"<br>"The alarm went off and Mommy called the cops."  
>"Okay. Let's go talk to Mommy, okay?"<p>

Danny stood up, taking his daughter's small hand in his as he wondered over to the group gathering near the front of the house. He coughed, raising his hand to his mouth as he stood next to Chin, whispering in his ear to give him a minute alone with his ex and her assistant. He nodded and pulled Kono off back towards the house, leaving Danny alone with the women. "Daniel, I -"  
>"Rach, we don't have time to start another argument. Just, tell me what happened."<br>"Emily and I were working late. Grace was upstairs sleeping. I heard the alarm go off. I grabbed the phone and called 911. Steven and the others were here a few moments later."  
>"And where is Stan?"<br>"Overseas. Bangkok."  
>"Of course, he is."<p>

Rachel's eyes narrowed as he spoke, but Danny decided not to proceed chasing after what could quite possibly be another ridiculous argument. His eyes moved for a second to Emily, and he couldn't help but force a smile. This wasn't exactly who he had imagined meeting this woman. Especially considering he was being rude, and he knew it. She smiled back, and his smile widened. He was about to introduce himself to her, when his wife spoke, breaking him away from his thoughts.

"Emily, I believe you can head home now. Goodnight."  
>Danny's eyes darted back to Rachel, his eyes narrowing at her expression as Emily nodded, moving away from Rachel as though her life depending on doing exactly what she had been told to do. Danny called after her, restraining the anger at the situation, "It was nice meeting you, Emily!". His forced smile remained on his face before he turned back to Rachel, not sure where to begin. But, instead of saying what was really going through his head he decided to take a wiser tactic. "What happened to Rebecca, Rachel?"<p>

"She went back home to England."  
>"Ah. I see. And this one. How long is she going to last?"<br>"Danno…"  
>He sighed, feeling his daughter's tug on his hand as a plea to cease arguing with her mother. He turned to her, smiling one of the first genuine smiles he had all night.<br>"Yes, monkey?"  
>"Can we go see Steve now?"<br>"You know what? Yes, monkey. Let's go find Steven."

He completely ignored Rachel's protest to stay and continue their argument. He called over his shoulder to her as he headed towards the front door of his house, "Rachel, argument is on pause. We can pick this up tomorrow." The feud between Rachel and Danny was always ongoing, and as much as Danny wanted to end it, he had a sinking feeling that he would always end up getting into some kind of massive argument with her. That was the thing about loving someone and then watching them walk out of a person's life only to have them waltz back in and remain out of their reach. The roller coaster of daily emotions that flooded their minds and heart.

He jumped back as he about ran into a fleeing brunette, that he recognized as Emily. In her rush to get away, however, she didn't even notice him there and managed to bump into his chest, spilling the contents of her purse all over the steps. He dropped Grace's hand and crouched down to help her pick them up, his eyes studying the gun that she pushed deep into the huge bag. His eyes moved to his daughter, who's draw had almost dropped to the floor before he spoke, "I hope you have a permit for that, sweetheart."

Her eyes darted up to look at him, and he smiled, watching her blue eyes widen. "I do." She spoke softly, shuffling through her purse. However, Danny stopped her, placing a hand on one of hers, shaking his head "I don't need to see it. I believe you. Just….can you do me a favor?" She nodded, her face still full of an apparent nervousness. "If you're going to be around my daughter….don't have that anywhere near her or we will have problems. Do you understand me?" His eyes narrowed, his face studying her reaction to his words. She worried her bottom lip, but eventually nodded, taking a lipstick container from Danny's hands and brushing past him.

"Danno, don't be mean to Emily. She's nice."  
>"Oh, I'm sure she is, monkey. I'm not being mean. It was friendly warning."<br>"It didn't sound very friendly."  
>"Well, monkey, when it comes to you and guns, that's about as friendly as I am going to be. Okay?"<br>She nodded and pulled on his hand, leading him through the door and into the house. He didn't know who this Emily person was, or why she had a gun in her possession within the same vicinity as his daughter, but he was going to find out. But, at the moment he had more pressing issues to deal with.

* * *

><p>Danno found Steve standing in the middle of the front room, talking to Chin and Kono in his usual directing manner. Steve noticed Danny and Grace and stopped talking. Grace broke free of Danny's hand and rushed over to Steve, wrapping her arms around him. Danny smirked as Steve spoke, "Hey Grace. Could you give me and your dad a minute." Grace frowned but agreed to his request, bounding off back over towards the doorway to call for her mother. "Thanks for getting here so fast, Steve."<p>

"No problem. How's Rachel?"  
>"Rachel? Oh she's….fine. Her charming self."<br>"You two get into another fight?"  
>"Try didn't end the one that started an hour ago. The one that is still on pause."<p>

Steve nodded, suppressing a smirk that Danny noticed and tried not to allow grind on his nerves. Apparently a lot of things in Danny's life were capable of irritating him to imaginable levels. Steve and Rachel just happened to be at the top of his list most of the time. They both had their good days. But there were other days where he plotted both of their deaths a million times in his head.

"Get anything out of her?"  
>"Other than the aforementioned fact that she is driving me insane? No, just told me that the alarm went off, she called the cops, and you got here first."<br>"Chin and I heard the same story. I think the assistant's hiding something though."  
>Danny's eyes darted over to the tall brunette, nodding to himself as he chewed on his bottom lip. "She's defiantly hiding something. She dropped her purse on the way out. And a small caliber handgun fell out."<br>"Do you know what kind?"  
>"No, Steven. I didn't get a good look at it. I was too shocked by the fact that she had a gun in the house with my eight year old to worry about what the gun looked like. I believe it was a Beretta. Other than that, I have no idea."<br>"Beretta? Military grade?"  
>"Perhaps. She stuffed it into her bag before I could get a good look at it. Besides, I didn't find it relevant. At least not to this."<br>"I think we need to question her. Kono -"  
>"No, let me do it. I need to have a word with her."<br>Steve's eyes met with Kono and Chin before speaking, "Danny, you're too close to this. I'm sending Kono to interview her tomorrow."  
>"Steve -"<br>"Don't argue with me. Just go and check on your family and I'll see you in the office tomorrow."  
>"Are you dismissing me now? Oh, that's how it is? Wow."<br>"Danny. Go. Before I have you removed."

Danny's eyes met with his superior's as he licked his lips in frustration, raising his hands in the air as he turned back to say goodbye to Grace and Rachel. He stopped inches in front of Rachel, who was talking to the last uniformed cop in the area. When the man turn and left, Rachel addressed Danny, "Is everything all right, Daniel?"  
>"Oh everything is just….peachy, Rachel. I'm going home. I think you and Grace need to go to a hotel. And I'll come to get you in the morning."<br>"I do not think that's necessary -" Danny laughed, exhaling as he ran a hand through his hair before he let loose "Rachel, I'm not asking your opinion. I'm _telling_ you to take _our_ daughter to a hotel and stay there until I come and get you in the morning. There is no need for a discussion. Just do it, or I'm taking her back with me to my place for the night. Which would you prefer?"

Rachel glared at him, but relented, sending Grace upstairs to pack a bag for the night. As soon as their daughter was gone, Rachel stepped forward, her eyes burning with anger, "Daniel, I do not know why you are acting like a boorish buffoon tonight, but I don't appreciate you yelling at me in front of our daughter." Danny didn't even respond to her. He threw his hands up in agitation, kicking over the nearest object, which happened to be an antique vase sitting near the base of a piano. Everyone in the room turned at the racket and Steve rushed forward, taking Danny by the collar and proceeding to shove him out the door and down the steps, slamming the door to his ex-wife's house behind him.

Danny's blood boiled as he stood, the pain in his knee radiating as he stood, screaming at the top of his lungs in frustration, before heading back towards his car. It was one of those nights. One of those nights that ended in one of the worst ways. One of those nights that would end with Danny going home alone with nothing but a bottle of beer waiting for him. He didn't care what Steve said. He was going to interview Emily tomorrow. He just knew that somehow she was involved in all this, and he was going to be damned to the darkest depths of hell before he allowed anything threatening around his daughter.


	2. Chapter 2

_Authors' notes: Sorry for the slight delay on this. Had a bad case of writer's block where nothing I wrote sounded right. I think it's passed now and the chapters should come more frequently. Ran through this a few times to check for errors, but considering I don't have a beta there might still be a few grammatical errors running about. Apologies in advanced and hope you enjoy this chapter!_

**Chapter 2:**  
>The sound of Danny's cell phone screaming in his ear woke him from his uncomfortable position sprawled out on his couch. The ringing irritated the slight hangover and caused him to groan, contemplating for the millionth time in the last few days about chucking his phone out the nearest window. He reached behind him for the phone on the end table beside the couch, finding it and pulling it down, smacking himself in the head with his hand. He grunted, flipping the phone open and pressing it against his ear, speaking as softly as he could, "Detective Williams."<p>

"Danny, it's Kono. I'm on my way to visit Emily at her apartment. It's actually only a few blocks away from your place…Do you want me to pick you up on the way over there?" This question had the blonde jersey boy wide awake, rising from his position as he attempted to decipher if he had truly heard what he had just heard. Kono was going to defy Steve? What kind of alternative universe had he drifted into in the middle of the night? Kono was rather good at listening. She wasn't normally the type to disobey orders. That was one of the things that he admired about And that was one of the reasons why this conversation was straying on the unusual. Mostly, Danny didn't understand why she would want to risk inflicting the wrath of Super Seal upon her head. He sat up, rubbing his eyes as he spoke, not able to suppress the questioning sound in his voice.  
>"Sweetheart, don't you think that will piss Steven off?"<br>"It might."  
>"Kono, I'm <em>positive<em> that not only will this enrage him - you might end up answering for this for a while."  
>" Don't worry about the Boss. I'll handle him."<br>"Oh, you will? Why do you suddenly have the answers to soothing the savage beast in him? Have you been reading some kind of how to manual for dealing with Super Seals? Do I even want to know? You know what? No. I don't want to know. I just know I'm going to regret this."  
>"Just be ready, okay? I'll be there in twenty minutes."<p>

He heard the line die out in his ear and he pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at it as thought he had just heard the most ridiculous thing in the world. Oh, he was definitely going to regret this. They both would. But, Danny knew that he needed to do this. Steve could yell at him until he lost his voice, or break every single bone in his body. But he was going to find out why the woman his ex had hired as her personal assistant was carrying a concealed weapon in her purse. Specifically a concealed weapon popular with the United States Military. It had been a long time since Danny had interacted with a woman who had walked around with a gun in her purse. Hawaii could be rather dangerous, but it wasn't Jersey. The need for protection wasn't exactly a high priority for the average citizen.  
>Danny pulled himself off the couch and managed to stumble his way into his bathroom, quickly undressing and rushing through a rather cold shower. By the time that he had finished getting dressed in his usual "business" attire, specifically in a bright blue dress shirt and black slacks with one of his favorite black ties and black dress shoes, he heard a knock at the door. He crossed the living room, running a hand through his hair, before opening the door to see Kono standing there, wearing a pink plaid shirt with a white tank top underneath and a pair of dark blue jeans and white sneakers, cocking her hip to the side as she questioned him, "Hey. You ready to head over to the lion's den?"<p>

"I don't think this is a life and death situation."  
>"It might be. For all we know this woman could be dangerous."Danny scoffed at that, shaking his head, "Please. This girl? I've seen cockroaches that are more dangerous than this girl. And bigger. Much bigger. Trust me when I say she's not going to cause us any problems. "<br>"You never know, Danny. Could all just be an act."  
>"Well, then she deserves an award. But, I don't think this girl has it in her. And even if she did, you could take care of her before she tried anything. So, I'm not worried."<br>"I guess we'll just have to see then, won't we?"  
>Danny shrugged as he grabbed his keys and cell phone before closing his apartment door behind him and locking it. He didn't really expect anyone to try and break in, and even if they did, he didn't exactly have anything worth stealing. It was still a forced habit from all his years in Jersey.<p>

"We taking your car or mine?" Kono questioned as they began to stroll down the driveway,  
>"For once, It might actually be nice to drive my own vehicle. You know? I miss it terribly. Super Seal and his control issues take up most of it's time."<br>Kono laughed and shook her head, as she handed towards the passenger side door of his car. Danny didn't know why Kono was jumping out on a limb here for him, but she must have suspected something as much as he did. Or she had such a deep amount of respect for him that she assumed he needed to be involved in the case. It didn't really matter. He just hoped that she would agree to keep their little rendezvous with Emily a secret. For both of their safety.

* * *

><p>The apartment complex was quite literally a two minute drive from Danny's place. And the worst part was that the area was in worse conditions than his was in. For the first time since he had arrived in Hawaii, he found himself thanking that his apartment was considered decent to the ones in this area. It also made Danny wonder just how Emily had managed to snag a job working for Rachel. As…particular as his ex could be, he could only imagine that she would want someone who had a good bit of change tucked away. Rachel was the most materialistic woman he had ever met. It didn't really seem to add up. He parked the car in front of the number, looking around, licking his lips pensively for a moment before turning to Kono, "Are you sure this is the place?"<p>

"Yeah, this is the address Rachel gave me when I called her this morning."  
>His nose crinkled as her name leaked from Kono's lips, smacking his head as he reached into his pocket, flipping open the phone and noticing for the first time that he had three missed calls from his ex and one voicemail. He didn't know how he had managed to sleep through the ringtone, but he could only figure that he was growing to immune to it. "Something wrong?" Kono asked, concerned, as she watched him push the call button to receive his voicemail messages. "Rachel. I forgot to pick her and Grace up from the hotel this morning."<p>

"Oh, don't worry about it. McGarrett went over there."  
>Rachel's brief and aggravating message confirmed Kono's story and he nodded, closing the phone and reaching up to rub his temples, shielding his eyes, letting out a deep sigh. "You okay?" the soft response came from the woman beside him and he nodded, forcing a smile as he reached for the car door, deciding now was not the time to break down and talk about his feelings, not that there was ever a good time for that in his opinion. It wasn't that he didn't trust Kono or their friendship. He simply thought he had more important matters to deal with than his current emotional turmoil and never-ending stress. "Yeah. I'm fine. It's not important. Let's just go and knock on the door and see if by some miracle Rachel managed to tell you the truth."<p>

Danny and Kono made their way from the car up to the door. Danny reached up, knocking on the door. He heard what sounded like movement coming towards the door and in the next minute the door opened to reveal the woman they had been looking for. She stood in what appeared to be pure shock, her mouth opened wide as her jaw slacked. After she recovered from the initial shock, she leaned against the doorway, crossing her arms over her chest as she spoke, her bright blue eyes catching with his. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail that wrapped around to lay against her right shoulder. She was simply dressed in a little sunshine yellow vintage sundress with a square neckline and pleated skirt with a pair of sandals on her feet. No jewelry or makeup decorated her. She was simply natural, and Danny felt his jaw slacking at the picture before him.

This was the first time he had really noticed how attractive she was. He didn't know if that was because it had been because of the cover of darkness during their first meeting or if he just had been to worried about Grace - and Rachel - to notice how appealing she was, but he was noticing it now. And he was definitely enjoying it. He felt himself involuntarily swallowing, as though he was gulping for air. He couldn't help but allow his mind to wonder to places that weren't exactly appropriate. Even if he was trying with everything he had to keep those thoughts pushed in the back of his head.

"Is there a problem, officers?" The blush that had brushed across her freckled face was simply adorable to Danny, and he felt himself smiling even if he knew he shouldn't. He felt like a goof, but she didn't seem to notice. She was either avoiding him or ignoring him deliberately because he was staring, but Danny couldn't be blamed for admiring someone for their beauty.

"Of course not, Miss Monroe. We just want to ask you a few questions about last night. Can we come in?" Kono asked, her eyes studying the young woman before glancing back to Danny. Danny wasn't exactly aware he was being observed by the rookie cop. His eyes were too focused on the woman in front of him, as though all the answers he was searching for could be found by studying her every move. She glanced away, and he wondered what exactly it was that she was trying to hide. It was obvious that something was going on that she didn't want him to know about. If he couldn't tell anything else about the woman - he could at least see that she wasn't very good at keeping her emotions hidden.

"I'd rather you not. My…mother is asleep and I do not wish to disturb her. She works the night shift over at Queens Medical center as a nurse."  
>"Then if you don't mind, would you step out here for me? Please? This won't take more than a minute, I promise," Danny practically begged, attempting to be as polite and reasonable as possible. He really didn't want to show his ass any more than he had the day before. That probably wasn't the best impression to leave on someone. Especially not someone who Gracie was fond of. If Grace thought she was nice enough to scold her father for being "mean" to her, than he should truly try to get to know her.<p>

Emily looked from Danny to Kono, and then back to Danny again, a clear nervousness spreading over her face before she nodded, stepping outside and closing the apartment door behind her. Her arms returned to their position crossed across her chest as she spoke, an uneasiness clearly still wafting about in the air. "What do you need to know?"

"How long have you been working for Mrs. Edwards?" Kono asked, studying the woman's facial expressions. She had already told Danny that she was going to have to be the one to ask all the questions since he _technically _wasn't even supposed to be with her. And as far as she knew, Danny appeared to be okay with this. She didn't know how long that would last, but she could at least appreciate that he was in a far better mood than the day before. Or, he was just putting on a brave face. Either way, it was easier for her not to worry that things were going to go horribly wrong by allowing him to accompany her on the interview.  
>"A couple of weeks."<br>"And what exactly do you do for her?"  
>"Mostly….filing paper work, taking phone calls, running errands for her -"<br>"Picking up Gracie," Danny interrupted, which caused her to glance back at him again. It was almost as though she didn't know if she should respond to him or not. But, she nodded in response. He took that as an okay to proceed with his questioning, ignoring Kono's cough in protest to his actions.  
>"How much time to you spend with my daughter a day?"<br>"I rarely spend more than a few hours a week with Grace. She has a nanny and Rachel spends quite a bit of her spare time watching over her. I'm sure you know that, Mr. Williams."

Kono shot Danny a dark look and he nodded, deciding to keep his mouth shut, as he shifted uncomfortably to the side, as the line of questioning continued. "Can you explain to us exactly what you witnessed last night, Miss Monroe?"  
>"I told you this last night. Mrs. Edwards and I were working on some last minute paper work that was due today in her study. Grace was asleep and Stan is away on business. We heard the alarm go off. She sent me to go and check on Grace and she called the police. The story hasn't changed, Officer Kalakaua." Danny studied her, the pursing of her lips, the fire in her eyes. Kono had struck a nerve, and she wasn't sure if it was because she didn't like someone thinking that she was a liar or if she was getting irritated with being asked a million questions.<br>"We are only verifying the information."  
>"Of course. I apologize."<br>"One last question…Why exactly were you carrying a concealed weapon in your purse?"

Emily's eyes darted to Danny, who couldn't suppress an almost pleased expression. And the heat the was eluding from her made it quite clear that she wasn't exactly his favorite person at that moment. In fact, she was quite sure she was going through a profound list of the many different ways of how she could take pleasure in murdering him and destroying the body so that he would never be found. And Danny hated thinking that the fire in her eyes was rather attractive as well. He had issues, clearly.

Finally, her gaze turned back to Kono, and she let out a deep exasperated sigh. "The gun is for…protection. I have a permit for the weapon, which is what I told Mr. Williams last night. Mrs. Edwards was aware that I had it with me. In fact…she was the one who requested I purchase it and register the weapon."

Danny's expression darkened and he couldn't help but laugh, cutting Kono off as she tried to keep him quiet. "You are telling me that _Rachel_ asked you to purchase a weapon to carry around in your purse for safety? And why would she do that?"  
>"I think I've done enough talking -"<br>"No, you haven't. Not nearly enough. Because, you see…_Rachel_ knows how I feel about guns. She knows that I don't want them near _our_ daughter. _Rachel_ would not request for you to bring that weapon around my child. At least I didn't think she would. Is this really your story or do I need to take you in for obstruction of a police investigation?"  
>"Danny. Stop," Kono demanded, raising her right hand to place on his shoulder, which caused him to look over at her. He sighed, turning away from her and heading back towards the car. He didn't even know what he was feeling at that moment. Worry? Panic? Anger? It was a humongous glob of messy emotions and he didn't really know how he was supposed to contain them. All he knew that nothing was adding up and he didn't know how he was supposed to process the apparent development.<br>"Danny?"

He turned to see Kono standing there, and let out a deep sigh, running his hand through his hair, and licking his bottom lip before he held his hands up, almost in defeat. "I'm sorry."  
>"Don't. Just….just don't mention this, <em>any of it<em>, to the Boss."  
>"Oh, don't worry. I'm in no hurry to get tossed to the ground on my behind again."<br>Kono nodded, continuing, "I think we've got enough for now. I'm going to question Rachel in a few hours. But, I think it might be a good idea if you _don't_ come with me to see her. I don't need to help start another civil war with the pair of you."  
>"Sweetheart, I'm wounded. Don't you trust me?"<br>"No. Not really."  
>'Wise decision…It's just…with Rachel…"<br>"She's a weak spot, I know. Just…take me back to get my car and then we can go into see Chin Ho and Steve before they start to wonder where we are."  
>"Good idea," he simply nodded in agreement, knowing that he had felt his phone vibrate in his pocket a couple of times since they had arrived at Emily's apartment.<p>

* * *

><p>Danny arrived ten minutes after Kono, who was already in the process of talking to Steve and Chin. They stopped talking as soon as he arrived and he knew that they were talking about his ex's case. He decided that he wasn't going to let it bother him, because he wasn't in the mood. He really wanted to drive over to Rachel's and ask her what was going on, but he decided against it. His head wasn't in the right place and he knew that he would likely wind up getting himself arrested just as he had threatened to arrest Emily for her obvious lying.<p>

As soon as he got close enough to the table, Steve motioned for him to follow him into his office and he caught a glance at Kono, who simply smiled at him. What the hell did she have to be so damn chipper about? He felt like he was being sent to the Principal's office and he didn't think he was going to like anything that had to be said. When did this happen? When was Steven the person scolding _him_ for acting out and doing things that weren't _by the book_? When had everything managed to get this He followed Steve begrudgingly into the office, closing the door behind him as he watched Steve move to sit down on his desk, "What is up with you? You're acting like.."

"You?"  
>"What's bugging you? Are things with Rachel and you really that bad?"<p>

He shrugged, shaking his head as he scratched an itch on his right arm. He didn't know what was bothering him. He didn't know why his temper had flared up and was almost unreadable across the charts. It didn't really make _sense_. But he wasn't going to try and explain that to Steve. It wasn't really any of his business anyway. His problems were his own and just because Steve pulled rank over him in the office, that didn't mean he needed to dive into his personal problems as well. "I don't know, Steve. I'm just…in a bad mood. It happens."  
>"You're not just in a bad mood, Danny. You're angry. Not even angry. You're…irate. That's easy to see. And if this continues…."<br>"What, Steven? What are you going to do?"  
>"I might have to ground your ass to your office until you learn to calm down. That's what."<p>

Danny laughed, shaking his head as he licked his lips raising his right hand as he spoke, "This is hilarious coming from you, Mr. Control Freak. There are plenty of times that if I had the ability to, I would have tied your ass to a chair and left you to rot in this office until you learned common sense and decency. How does it feel, huh? Not being able to control things? Must be pure hell."  
>"Danny, don't make me -"<br>"Make you what, Steven? Huh? What are you going to do?"  
>"What am I going to do?"<br>"Yeah, what are you gonna do?"  
>"Two days. Go home. Now. Come back when you get control over…whatever the hell is bugging you, man."<p>

Steve turned to walk back over to his desk and Danny bit his tongue, mentally kicking himself as he turned to open the door, nearly slamming it into the wall beside him in the process. Chin and Kono stood in the center of the room, both staring at him. He didn't even acknowledge their existence as his made his way back towards the door to head off. He didn't know where he was going to go. He needed to drive that was for sure. There was nothing like a relaxing drive to clear his head and calm him down. At least that was what he would have done if he hadn't have felt his phone ringing in his pocket as he headed towards the door. He pulled the phone out, opening it.

"Detective Williams?"  
>"Mr. Williams, I have something I need to discuss with you. Don't inform your boss or your coworkers of this meeting. This must remain private. Meet me Ala Wai Harbor at seven p.m. There will be a boat named 'Layla' near the southeast end of the harbor where we will meet. Do not be late."<p>

The phone went dead before he could respond. He didn't know what the hell was going on, but he knew that voice before he even had time to think about it. It was Emily.


End file.
